Fewer Billboards on the Horizon

Since Scenic Nevada won its battle in late 2017 to have the Reno billboard ban enacted, the supply of legal unused permits, known as banked receipts, has dwindled from 67 to less than 50. That means fewer new billboards are on the horizon.

The ban on new billboards, approved by a majority of Reno voters 17 years ago, is now the law. But the ban did not affect the unused permits. However, they do have a shelf life and if they aren’t used by their expiration date, they are voided.

Only two new billboards have gone up, using three banked permits since we won our fight, bringing the total number of billboards to 210 within the city limits.The city reported to us in December that 10 of the 67 unused billboard permits have expired and become void. Five others were surrendered to alter existing billboards. So those were used without adding to the total number of existing billboards. Thirteen more are slated to expire in 2019, if they aren’t used.

Effective September 15, 2017, the new law prohibits digital billboards and the practice of allowing new billboards to replace demolished displays, known as “banking and relocation.”

The Reno City Council unanimously gave final approval to a billboard ordinance rewrite, after years of advocacy work by Scenic Nevada, that toppled all past efforts to perpetuate billboards and the clutter and blight they bring to Reno’s city streets and highways. Reno now joins Washoe County and the ranks of many other communities nationwide that have adopted billboards bans. Four states, Alaska, Hawaii, Maine and Vermont also ban billboards.